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Can Yemen Be Saved?

It would be a mistake to dismiss the recent overthrow of Yemen's government by the Shia Houthi rebel movement as yet another slip on the country's long climb toward stability. Unless its international allies throw it a lifeline, the country risks sinking into a sea of disorder that could imperil the entire region.

SANA'A – Yemen is no stranger to crisis. Exposed to a regional proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, plagued by an entrenched Al Qaeda affiliate, and divided by tribal disputes and a secession movement, the country has become a poster child for everything that can go wrong in the Arab world.

Yemen has demonstrated remarkable resiliency in the past. To ensure that the recent overthrow of its government by the Shia Houthi rebel movement does not deal Yemen the lethal blow that it has avoided so far, the international community must not abandon the country in what may be its hour of greatest need.

The origins of the Houthi movement date to 1991, when it was created to protect Zaydism, a moderate form of Shi'ism, from the encroachment of Sunni Islamists. After the attacks on New York and Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001, the group's battle took on a geopolitical dimension, as its fighters objected to Yemen's decision to collaborate with the United States and enhance bilateral intelligence cooperation.

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"Iran has armed and trained the Houthis" - The Saudi & Yemeni Governments have been claiming this for a while, but this is not true. Iran is their scapegoat for everything. Presenting such statements creates a disservice for your readers, who are looking for insight and analysis. You should not blindly repeat Saudi Arabia's (& their allies') propagandist claims, unless you seek to mislead. The Zaydis (Religion of Houthis) are 40% of Yemen, and they are engaging Al Qaeda, who has been blowing them up in their mosques and communities. They are reciprocating to Salafist terrorism.
https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09SANAA2186_a.html

"Can Yemen be saved"? Saved from disintegration or a proxy war fought between the Shia Houthis and the Sunni terrorists of the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)?
Although the Houthis' "brand of Shi'ism shares little with that practiced in Tehran", they are supported by Iran. This can largely be seen as Tehran's way of annoying its regional rival, Saudi Arabia, which is Yemen’s powerful neighbour. The conflict may well be a political and tribal one rather than sectarian - Yemen doesn't seem to have a history of Sunni-Shia animosity. That "the group's power grab has frightened its adversaries, leading them to seek new alliances" like the AQAP is not far-fetched. This "could imperil the state's security" and have serious implications for Yemen, its Big Brother, Saudi Arabia and key Western ally, the US, in its effort to combat AQAP.
The Houthis are members of the Zaidi sect, representing between 20-30% of Yemen’s population, and they had ruled North Yemen under a system known as the imamate for almost 1,000 years until 1962. That they were able to seize power because the ruling elite in Sana’a had been fragmented by the fall of Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011. The mass protests against rocketing fuel prices prompted the Houthis to take Sana'a and expanded southward and along the Red Sea coast.
There are both Shia and Sunnis, who welcome the Houthis, a sign that they have become an important player, with the potential of reshaping Yemen's complex political landscape. They seem to be willing to fight corruption and al-Qaeda, filling a security vacuum left by Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi's feckless government. The 2011 transition agreement had basically preserved the power and corruption of old regime elites. Yet opponents see the Houthis as Iranian backed and accuse them of aligning with Saleh in a marriage of convenience to gain power.
The Houthis’ success has also encouraged separatists in Southern Yemen to secede, adding fears that the country could break up. Indeed it's unclear whether Saleh has a role to play in this crisis! He had ruled Yemen for three decades and was reluctant to relinquish power. Now he could justify his comeback, claiming he might be able to save the country from disintegrating.